Palestinian official expects vote on bid of UN recognition at year- end

byonSeptember 28, 2012

RAMALLAH, Sept. 28 — A senior Palestinian official expected on Friday that the vote in the UN on the Palestinian bid of recognizing the state of Palestine as a non-member state will be by the end of December.

Hanan Ashrawi, a member in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, told a news briefing held in the West Bank city of Ramallah that "The actual work with all international groups has already started to earn the biggest support for the Palestinian request."

Ashrawi, who expected 150 member states in the UN General Assembly to vote in favor of the bid, said what the Palestinians will gain "will be the outcome of ongoing intensive diplomatic Palestinian effort in cooperation with all the supportive international groups to our people."

"Despite the United States and Israel's attempts to block the bid, they won't be able to compel those groups not to vote in favor of the Palestinian bid to gain a non-member state in the UN General Assembly," said Ashrawi.

On Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN General Assembly during its 67th session and called on the international community to end the occupation and recognize a free state of Palestine.

"All of us noticed the difference between the Palestinian speech and the Israeli speech. President Abbas' speech was very clear and simple and reflected a real vision" on how dangerous the situation is, said Ashrawi. (PNA/Xinhua)